When the Shadows Rise [Mission | Zeo]

Mission #1:

Mission #2:

"So...what you're saying is that some big, bad, brawny-"

"Don't forget about burly!"

"Okay, some big, bad, brawny, and BURLY bandits pulled up during the estate at night by breaching the seal formula protecting the manor...and then didn't do anything else? Not at all? You sure? Absolutely fucking sure?"

Enishi was the furthest thing from being in any capacity - amused; he was enjoying his afternoon nap before he got abruptly summoned for "the most urgent of issues that only two accomplished Chuunin can deal with" by the Mission Agency of Hoshigakure through the use of those irritating calling birds. Literally, one of them shat on his hair and there were still strings of bird poop wrapped around his auburn hair, even after drenching himself in Water Release. In reality, this "urgent issue" was just one of the noble families of Hoshigakure - the Kuzuryus once again using their influence to force the shinobi of Hoshigakure to act under the most menial of issues. It was quite disheartening to see how money and social power can be used to manipulate the military of a nation - especially a military as honorable as Hoshigakure's. The Kuzuryu Family bore a history of using shinobi to solve simple issues, such as faking that a summoned snake was in their front yard, so they got a whole squad of Jounin dispatched to deal with...a homeless cat in the front yard.

 It wasn't clear whether the family were a bunch of arrogant fools or simply found pleasure in being able to command shinobi to be their slaves. Hoshigakure couldn't simply cut off one of their greatest sources of wealth in the Kuzuryu Family, so they tolerated their corruption. Enishi and a teammate that would arrive soon would be forced to deal with the family's issue - the household claiming that a group of bandits infiltrated their estate by breaching their complex seal formula so they need shinobi that will be able to rebuild the seals in their estate. However, Enishi was very skeptical that it even happened; for one, why would bandits go through all of the trouble of breaching the manor's seals...and then do nothing else? It made absolutely no sense to the mind of the understudy, and his aggravation would only amplify when it was nothing more than a little girl who couldn't be older than six - the daughter of the family - that was the spokesperson of the whole situation. It was almost as if the mother and father felt as if they were too noble to speak to Enishi, so they delegated their damn toddler daughter to inform the understudy about the situation. The auburn haired Chuunin in reaction to that took a more aggressive form of speaking, but he would soon come to realize that he shouldn't talk back to the Kuzuryu family.

"Don't you dare talk to my little princess like that again, boy. Didn't your parents teach you to respect your superiors? Our sealing formula in our household is in need of some reinforcement, my wife here had trouble sleeping because she felt a disturbing presence in the household. It's obviously bandits! That should not need any explaining; I don't pay you tools of people to talk back, I just need you to quietly do your work!" Goto Kuzuryu: father of the little girl and head of the Kuzuryu household snapped at Enishi's words with malice.

"I understand Lord Kuzuryu, I really do. But the bottom line is that the bandits if they didn't steal anything, break equipment, or harm you guys - then there's a high possibility that the whole estate is rigged, likely with something say explosives so I need to dispel all of the seals then construct a new formula whi-" In a speed that was as slow as a snail to the Sage but as fast as lightning to anyone else, Goto's hand struck across Enishi's, producing a sickening sound that rang through the building like a twisted bell. Enishi couldn't fight back nor dodge the attack...it was part of the job anyway. The understudy's statement was interrupted by that slap, causing his face to reel back. "You. Are. Testing. My. Patience. Explosives? Rigged? Who gives a shit about those weird fantasies? Heh, don't tell me you want something like this to happen. I bet you do. The shinobi of these days I swear, back in my day-"

The air shook. In an instant, the ground, the ceiling, the walls, the chandeliers...everything exploded. By sheer instinct, Enishi was able to jump out of the windows of the exploding estate with all of the Kuzuryu Family members being held by him, but once he landed on the expansive backyard, he saw the absolute carnage before him. Half of the Kuzuryu mansion was blown to bits, flames erupting on top of the mansion like morbid fireworks attempting to eviscerate everything it touched. Setting the family members safely on the ground and ignoring the frantic yelling of Goto, his wife, and their daughter - a grim expression would grow on the Wraith's face. 'As I expected, unfortunately... The bandits set detonation seals after breaching the defensive protocol seal to set a ticking time bomb to explode near sunset...which would kill everyone in the mansion. Why would they do something so grandiose like that though? It's not like they stole everything - hell, anything so that precious resources wouldn't be destroyed by the explosion.' Enishi clicked his tongue as he ruminated. 'It's likely a diversion; after all, my next task is after rebuilding the formula to investigate bodies stolen from the National Bounty Station also reported to be stolen by seal breaching. It was likely done by the same bandits as well. They needed to buy time...'


"Everyone, stay back!" Enishi commanded, instantly silencing the Kuzuryu Family Members as he moved towards the collapsing inferno. His partner should be arriving soon, having no idea on who the comrade was but hopefully, they could help him put out the fire. 

WC: 993 | 4200 Required WC

Zeo wandered towards the spot he was supposed to go at an unhurried pace. He was dragging his feet due to his 'spectacular' failure after the Nova Exams. He tried to move past it. In the end, he faced the worst opponent he could of hoped to face right off the back. He was just trying to swallow the facts. He lost. He was inexperienced and too naive for his own good. Would he accept that? It was a pill for him to swallow he didn't want to. In the end he left that fight with a chip on his shoulder to lose to Tsuna-- who was in fact an ace in Hoshigakure.

He would of kept pouting in his apartment for a bit more-- but soon a summons to a mission was all the difference. The weight of his loss still was on his shoulders, doubting himself as he struggled to move past it. Maybe being Nova corps was not meant for him. He thought so highly of himself and his new power, and he lost to his senior so badly. His strategy came apart to his power-- that and Zeo left himself wide opening, out of stupid courtacy. A mistake he wouldn't make again.

He walked to the spot where he would meet, and soon find Enishi. His current partner for this mission. The jerk... he thought. He probably let Tsuna know how he used Genjutsu. Zeo tried not to hold it too hard though. He was just bitter then. However, he soon Enishi gets slapped. A cough of amusement escaped Zeo as he saw this, figuring karma was catching up to him for something.

However, as if Zeo wasn't having a grumpy day, things got worse when the explosion went off. He hadn't even gotten to say hi or even introduce himself when all went to hell. Soon the entire place shook with destruction!

Zeo barely gave the thought as he blinked-- and his Uchugan activated and he raised his hand to his head to shoot himself.

Persona! he thought.

As the explosion went off, Enishi had gotten to safety, but Zeo wasn't that fast or that lucky to escape as he was buried in the rubble now. However, it was then that the rubble moved-- revealing a glowing blue chakra being pushing the rubble aside. Covering him with his whole body-- Zeo survived, utilizing the ability of his own Persona. The soul-incarnate being soon pushed his torso and arms back, allowing to push the rubble back to allow Zeo to move. It was a quick reaction, but a welcomed one as he used his Persona to shield him from the blast.

He coughed and shook his head, shocked by t he sudden explosion. With fire burning everywhere, he knew he had to clear it out. He looked up to his Persona-- He Bo. The incarnate of the water god hovered over him with its watery body as it faced ahead, unhindered. "He BO!" Zeo ordered.

With no need for instruction, the water god rushed forward and its astral-like form became water itself. It rushed through the structure, spreading water everywhere, and putting out the fire. From the outside where Enishi was, he could see the torrent of water soon move through the estate, putting out the fire with rather grand splashes as if depth charges were released in place where the fire burned.

With the final explosive splash to smother out the flames-- Zeo soon emerged from the hole, coughing and covered in dust as he emerged, He Bo reconstructing behind him in his full form as a dragon-clawed river god with a swirling water below him.

"Can't you go anywhere without blowing things up Enishi...?" Zeo jabbed at Enishi, not sure what happened.

WC: 632

"This is bad, really bad."

Out of all things to utter about being "really bad", the Wraith wasn't referring to the fact that you know...half of the Kuzuryu Estate was blown up by terrorist explosives set by bandits, no, it was the fact that his partner was Zeo Kamigawa, Zeo...damn...Kamigawa... This was a pretty terrible time for the two to be assigned in a grand mission together, considering the recent events of what happened. Yesterday was the first round of the Nova Exams, where many aspiring shinobi of Hoshigakure were pitted against each other in a grand tournament bracket to find out who is the most qualified to join the ranks of the Nova Corps - essentially being the CIA of Hoshigakure and the Haven Country. The Nova Corps is tasked with the responsibility of being the highest rank in Hoshigakure besides the rank of Hogokage, possessing generational talents and strengths that are able to defend the village at the highest level as well as the intelligence and brilliance needed to perform clandestine operations behind the scenes. Behind the responsibility that the Nova Corps holds, the possibility of an average shinobi being part of the organization is fundamentally zero percent, as only the most talented and qualified of individuals in Hoshigakure would ever have the possibility to join the ranks. The Nova Exams served as an elevated form of the Chuunin Exams, as the top three ranked individuals who participated in the tournament would be promoted; the top three being decided based on each participant's performance in their battles regardless of victory or loss. However, the more fights you win and progress in the tournament bracket, the more opportunities you have to show your talents. Essentially, the individuals who reach the farthest have the highest chance of attaining the rank of Nova. Enishi and Zeo were one of the few selected to participate in the Nova Exams in front of the whole village, so both had their first matches yesterday...

Unfortunately, Zeo was defeated.

Zeo was brutally defeated by Tsunayoshi Hoshimura, the "Golden Boy" of Hoshigakure and one of the prior participants of the Chuunin Exams who attained the rank of Chuunin. However, during this time, Tsuna had become exceedingly powerful...and was quite possibly the strongest Chuunin in Hoshigakure, clearly qualified to join the Nova Corps. The manner in which Zeo was defeated rubbed Enishi the wrong way when he was on standby and watching the fight, quite irritated at Tsuna's lack of honor in respecting Zeo's words and immediately going for the kill. It was distasteful and robbed Zeo of showcasing his talents, so if anything, Enishi was pissed off at Tsuna, and should they face each other in the later rounds...absolutely no mercy would be shown. 

The Sage of Pleiades assumed that his friend should have some time to himself to sort out his defeat, so for him to do a mission the day after he was defeated in front of the whole village...it was quite awkward so Enishi understood if Zeo was grumpy. Seeing that he activated his Persona in an impressive manner to take out the fire and remove any sort of danger, at least the understudy fully knew that Zeo's skills wouldn't be affected by his downtrodden mood. Emerging from the hole, the Kamigawa scion would rise as the God of Rivers that was his soul personified towered behind the shaman. 

"Can't you go anywhere without blowing things up Enishi...?"

"I guess I'm wanted everywhere. I live a dangerous life you know?" He said in a deadpan manner, hoping to lighten up the mood; he knew he would have to address the Nova Exams sometimes later, but he wanted to ease into that conversation. Right now, he just needed to reconstruct the seal and then they would head to the bounty station. "Glad to see you around. Do you know what our task is, Zeo? ...Some bandits set explosives in the area that we're in now, using it as a diversion to steal bodies from the nearby bounty station in the outskirts... So, our task is to rebuild the sealing formula around the perimeter of the mansion, then track down the bandits. I can finish up with the sealing formula and rejoin you a formula before catching up to the Kamigawa. Should Zeo agree, he'd get straight to work but before he'd head around the half-explodt the outskirts ... don't worry about me, I got it." The understudy spoke confidently but calmly, wanting to make sure that his teammate was comfortable with them splitting up tasks, Zeo starting out with tracking down the bandits while Enishi would rebuild the sealing mansion's perimeter. Before that, he'd utter a few words with finality,

"Don't be ashamed, Tsunayoshi is simply a filthy coward." 

Those words oozed with venom; if Zeo held any irritation at Tsunayoshi, Enishi felt the same.

The understudy quickly headed to the dilapidated mansion as the Kuzuryu Family would run off to a nearby hotel to stay a few nights, not needing to worry about actually fixing the mansion since that was the job of other civil service workers. Retrieving about five blank tags with an ink brush, Enishi would head to work, using a slab of limestone on the ground as a surface. It would take a while...but finally, all five tags would have been constructed, now five seals intertwined with each other with multiple kanji used to create a unique sealing formula. The formula was a less powerful Five Seal Barrier, where anything within the perimeter of the five seals would be protected by an invisible barrier and also detect people who enter the protected area. Infusing the tags with chakra and writing down the kanji would take around fifteen to twenty minutes give or take because an error in ink length, chakra allocation, and kanji form would mess up the whole formula, so Enishi had to be REALLY careful. When he was finished, he would place the five sealing tags around the mansion with an equal distance from each other, before clapping his hands.

"Five Seal Barrier..."

Within the domain of the mansion, the sealing formula would be activated, creating the invisible barrier and detection field, hence rebuilding the sealing formula. But the understudy added a few modifications to the sealing formula, which would make it near impossible to break if you weren't part of Hoshigakure personnel. With the seal being rebuilt, Enishi would let go a sigh of relief, resting assured that the first part of the mission was done...

"I wonder how Wonder Boy is doing?"

WC: 1127
TWC: 2120 | 4200 Required WC

Zeo got the gist of their mission from Enishi, as Zeo glanced to the family that they saved. A seemingly uptight noble and his daughter who was beside him. The woman seemed to look to Zeo with an impressed look, seeing him and his Persona active. In that instance, Zeo willed his persona back and it vanished from sight in a swirl of blue chakra. Zeo was somewhat silent and passive in his interaction till Enishi brought up the Nova exam and the loss against Tsuna...

Zeo gritted his teeth in shame at the memory. Why did he have to bring that up? "Seems my fate in life is always to loose when it really matters..." he said in equal venom. It was unlike Zeo to be so spiteful but he tried to swallow it down. Without voicing his agreement, he choose to do what was asked and pursue the bandits. In a seemingly reckless action, Zeo took off to do just that. An impulsive and out-of-character move. However, Zeo had no skills in sealing so this was the only other option he could do.

Zeo sped into the nearby forest, to track any chakra around. He dropped his persona, but his eyes still were active-- his Uchugan searching for any chakra bodies that harbored any kind of ill intent. The kind that would of likely triggered those explosions.

He soon could see it, to the far south of his present position. He felt his worth, his ability all in question now-- he had to regain his confidence, honor and worth. He wasn't going to lose again, and he was going to take these guys on his own. This suited him fine. He was used to be alone...

Up ahead, the bandits had moved forward. They were reaching past the collection office to penetrate the defenses and steal their quarry. "Hurry up! They will catch up to us soon!" one of them argued .

As they parted the trees, they soon found a solitary blue figure standing before them. Somehow Zeo got in front of them and glared at them with defiance.

The three thieves stopped seeing the shinobi.

"That's far enough. I'm in a bad mood, so please just surrender now before I lose my temper," Zeo argued with a chill but clearly peeved tone.

"Yeah? We don't got time for brats like you. Kill him!" the leader shouted. The three of them soon drew kunai from their packs and proceeded to throw them-- but not just any. These had explosive tags attached to them, poised to strike and detonate around Zeo.

Zeo quickly wove hand signs and soon made contact to the ground. "SUMMONING JUTSU!!" Zeo roared, and with it, came a roar of water. A mass of water rose up out of where he touched-- and erupted like a guiser. The water blocked the kunai bursts and knocked them away, along with causing a diluge of water that proceeded to wash into the thieves and submerge a part of the forest! No doubt Enishi would soon see the floodingg from where he was...

WC: 517

"Huh, to be frank - sir, the bounty station's security is pretty bad. The seal network's system is very rudimentary, so anyone with some knowledge in breaking detection and barrier seals would be able to breach the bounty station's seals very easily." 

Once again, Enishi wasn't amused at the prospect standing before him; once again, it seemed that the people of Hoshigakure forgot how to think and create proper security measures. After reconstructing the sealing network in the Kuzuryu Mansion, the Sage of Pleiades headed towards the bounty station as this was the next part of his task - gather information about the bandits' objectives, reconstruct the sealing network of the bounty station, then meet up with Zeo to deal with the bandits. However...this was a lot different than what he expected. This time, the situation was that the Fuuinjutsu Specialist who constructed the bounty station's sealing network really screwed up in their recent update, resulting in a flimsy sealing network that any bandit or Missing Ninja worth their salt could be able to breach with ease. As one of Hoshigakure's top Fuuinjutsu Specialists...this really hurt Enishi to see such a goofy and elementary sealing formula used to defend one of the most important stations in Hoshigakure. Sighing as he turned towards the commanding officer with a grim expression after speaking his analysis, Enishi could see the color on the man's face dry out as he seemed particularly perturbed at this circumstance. "...This is odd, odd indeed. Kurosawa, I was told that the seal's formula was completely unbreakable by the Fuuinjutsu Specialist's word last week. Unless he horrifically misjudged his work, it would seem to be impossible to not notice that you performed terribly in your seal craft - especially when you're a specialist in such a methodical craft that is Fuuinjutsu. It just doesn't add up- Damn, he got us." A grave grimace appeared on the Bounty Officer's face as Enishi and he arrived at the same conclusion instantly.

"Yeah... He disguised himself as a Fuuinjutsu Specialist and infiltrated our ranks, intentionally creating a simple seal formula for anyone even remotely skilled to easily break! Such a simple...but deadly tactic. I don't believe there's a way to track him because he could have used the Transformation Technique and most certainly used a fake name. Damn bandits," Enishi chuckled grimly as he began reconstructing the seal formula, doing so at lightning-fast speeds. "I assume that the bodies were taken somewhere in the Outskirts?" The Sage asked while at work. "Only a few, but not all of them I reckon. There were only able to take a few of the bodies into the outskirts before they had to perform a tactical retreat since luckily - one of the assistants saw them. Yet they were too fast and easily escaped our clutches; I assume that now they want to return to the Bounty Office and eliminate us all while taking all of the bodies for god knows what reason... You might want to think about rebuilding the seal formula later, Kurosawa. They could be here at any minute!" 

"No, I'm almost done," Enishi said resolutely, shocking the Bounty Officer in the force that he said it. "Someone is gonna stop them right in their tracks and make them wish they followed through with that tactical retreat. Heh, he might make them fly off of Hoshigakure with his bubbles." A wry smile appeared on the Wraith's expression as a drop of sweat rolled down his face; performing two mass sealing formulas was placing a toll on his chakra system. "Wait...You do not mean...him?! We're saved!" The Bounty Officer could merely gasp at who it could be... 



A massive torrent doused the Outskirts forest in water, knocking any sort of obstructions away while tossing three masked individuals in the mayhem of the deluge. Zeo was expertly facing toe to toe against the three bandits that attacked the Kuzuryu Mansion as a diversion and then attempted to steal the bodies of the Bounty Station. Swallowed up in water, the bandits soon collided against a more solid tree as they faced the Kamigawa...but before they could react to fire a second jutsu.


The bandits would look above as they felt intense heat even when most of their bodies were submerged in water..and then they saw what was causing it. A comet of eight fireballs - seemingly raining down from the heavens and assaulted all that were unfortunate to meet their wrath. However, what made these fireballs so potent was that they were infused with Sage chakra as the fireballs gained some sort of animalistic phoenix appearance to denote their evolution into a Sage Art. "Burst!" A voice commanded. The stars within the comet would burst as they reached close to the bandits, exploding in a magnificent burst of Sage Fire as the tree cushioning them would fall on top of the three due to the multiple fire explosions proliferating the area before Zeo. Zeo would most likely be at least a little bit confused about what the attacks originated from until he saw that Enishi landed on top of his water geyser, right next to him; but Enishi wasn't in the best shape. Having exhausted more than three-fourths of his chakra reserves due to the previous mass sealings he had to do as not even the natural energy that he gained from his bloodline was enough to sustain his shortage of chakra. Firing those Sage-infused fireballs didn't help either, but they were merely a way to buy him some valuable time to discuss the mission with Zeo. 

"Yo, Zeo..." He spoke with a calm smile, somewhat grim as he understood that he didn't have much chakra left. "Those Fuuinjutsu reconstructions really did a number on my reserves. If I want to be exact...I think I exhausted about 75%...nah probably about 80% with the attack I just did. My chakra is quickly running out the more this battle will progress, but I think these bandits won't go down easily; one of them is a Fuuinjutsu Specialist just like me so he'll probably try to seal our chakra or even seal us into scrolls in a worst case scenario. They're trying to get past us to reenter the Bounty Station, so we can't let them out of our sight even for a moment." The Sage spoke, holding on the handseal even more to sustain the last bits of the explosion, "...I have about one Chakra Storage Seal left which will restore my reserves by about...10%? 15% if we're being REALLY generous; and if I'm being honest, my vision is starting to blur a little bit. They probably laced some knockout gas in the Bounty Station and I likely inhaled some of it. We'll have to work together if we want to beat all three of them without sustaining serious injuries." The explosion died down...Enishi letting out a small chuckle as he could see the three bandits rising up from the water, ready to attack. They were about twenty meters away from the two and one starting to form handseals. He was tired, but his fighting spirit was still alive. Looking at his partner, he'd let out his signature grin.

"Any ideas?"

WC: 1207
TWC: 3337 | 4120 Required WC

Zeo was pissed. He wished to end this and he could of with a grand water style jutsu. He was torn-- sparing them or killing them. It was completely unlike him. He was totally not himself now due to his trauma during the nova exams. But that soon changed when the fire style attack snapped him out of it and Enishi came in to the rescue. Zeo frowned at him and his chatty attiutude. But he was a welcomed sight.

It was clear he knew more about the situation than he did, and now he had to answer for it. It was just enough to calm him down and make him use his head-- his strongest trait after all. Zeo shook his head, bring the issues he had with Yue out of his mind to focus on the task at hand. He couldn't allow his feelings and grudges to put a mission at stake. He took a deep breath and listened as Enishi explained his seal breaking and his limited chakra left. He hated to do it, but he knew the best way to do w hat Enishi asked: To stop them and not wound them. It wasn't what he was in the mood for, but he could do it.

"Okay..." Zeo sighed as he took out his bubble pipe and started to dip it into a small vessel he had for it. "Just keep them busy for a few minutes at most." Zeo explained as he raised his pipe.

He took a deep calm breath and blew into the pipe, casting a squall of bubbles into the air. As the bubbles divided into the air, they drifted up and over all over the watery field as the bandits were still in the thores of confusion. With them deployed, Zeo formed a few simple hand signs, channeling his chakra into the bubbles.

With his jutsu complete, the bubbles started to glow with an irredesent rainbow color. It shimmered with an alluring quality. Zeo's infamous genjutsu entrapped its opponents in a joyous display of the bubbles, which broke down all sense of aggression and the will to fight if you looked into it. A skilled genjutsu that didn't require direct eye contact, but vision with the bubbles themselves. Anyone who saw it was in it before they knew what would hit them.

Out of the smoke, steam and chaos of the duo's jutsu, they soon saw the bubbles float in the air. "What the hell?! This supposes to do anything?!" one man laugh, amused by the bubbles.

"Yeah-- they are funny--- ah... aha...ahahahah!!" one laughed, almost uncharacteristically. The 4 of them soon started to smirk among themselves, like the jutsu was nothing but a joke.

All the while, Zachary sat upon the water pillar as he watched as the bubbles surrounded them.

One by one, each one started to enter a fit of laughter and started to reach for the bubbles, that started to move whimsically away from them like fireflies. It was only then that one of the men started to realize how he shouldn't of been laughing. "What the-- why am I? We need too... ahhhahahaha!" he laughed, and soon saw it, the bubbles dividing into teddie bears, lollipops and multi-colored rabbits.

"Drrr... Release!!" he roared, and the bubbles in his field of vision started to pop.

All but one was not effected. The moment he started to feel he was unable to control his own laughter and vision of the bubbles, he knew well enough to snap out of it. "Genjutsu? Little son of a bitch!" the man snarled, while his partners were all still hallucinating the bubble show. He looked up at Zachary, seeing him just standing there. The cold, judgemental look on Zeo's face was indeed not normal, but he was in no good mood as the bubbles fluttered in the air around him.

"You gonna have to do better than that!" He roared and launched himself out of the water, moving to try and close the gap to Zeo and Enishi.

Zeo wove another set of hand seals, ending with a focus sign as he had his bubbles flutter nearby--- and the man incoming flew right into them.

BOOOM!! The same bubbles that would cast the Genjutsu suddenly erupted and exploded right into his face. Zeo didn't even bat an eye as his skill with bubble jutsu was now at a strong level. He could easily maneuiver the bubbles into any place-- but it proved pointless against an enemy like Yue. The very thought of him caused the bubbles around the target to erupt, smacking him around in the air.

"GRRAAA!!!" he growled, as he was snapped back into the water from the explosions.

"Enough of this. " Zeo said as he raised his hand, forming a spirit gun and aimed it to his head-- his Uchugan glowing once more. "PERSONA!!"

The sound of a bang caused a flash of light to erupt behind Zeo, and He Bo rememerged like before. Using the very water around him, he raised a hand and fired a spiraling torrent of water from his hand-- and the enviormental water added to it, creating a massive vortex that shot around the bandits and sent them spiraling away-- though the ones in the Genjutsu probably would of found that fun.

However, as Zeo attacked, Enishi would see how foul a mood he was, as his attack with He Bo was--- uncharacteristically overkill to his normal methods.




WC: 918
TWC: 2067

Zachary watched with the clear intent to stop the bandits fully, and saw as his Persona roared and launched his watery attack. It was then as the waters started to calm that Enishi's voice boomed into Zeo's ears! His focus broke for a moment as he looked to Enishi to see him shout, and he listened. That word, that smack in the face of reality made Zachary's eyes widen. What was he doing? He wasn't a killer. He wasn't a murderer. Even as a shinobi, he choose the art of genjutsu because he wished to use non-lethal methods to obtain victory and stop enemies. He wasn't a violent person by nature.... so what the hell was he doing.

"I... I didn't... Well..." Zeo studdered, realizing what he was doing was near very well overkill. He saw as Hebo washed the fields clean, and the bandits were tossed around. In that moment, he remembered that pain he felt. That hate... The rage he had for the attacker... and it flashed back to that fight with Tsuna. He crushed him. He utterly defeated him because Zachary hesitated and held honor in the face of a fight, when he showed none and he lost due to it. Zachary was broken from that fight far more than Enishi could tell... It was an action, a concept that was the complete opposite of Zeo...

And that was when the unthinkable happened.

" UGH!!!" Zeo suddenly felt a sharp, searing pain in his head. His eyes widened, showing the starry gaze in his eyes as they seemed to glow bright. He gripped his head and crouched low, feeling the shock of pain, as if his very body was acting against itself. A conflict within.

It was then that He Bo stopped... The giant chakra construct suddenly stopped moving and slumped over, as if affected by Zeo state as well. Normally, the Persona would of disappeared should the caster loose focus enough-- but then something else happened. Zachary looked like he was terrified, realizing the guilt of what he had done. Self hatred.

It was then the Persona suddenly responded, its eyes flashing bright and the once divine and calm vision of He Bo let out a beastly and terrifying roar like a raging ocean. Water and wind swept the landscape as if a sudden storm had emerged in the vicinity. The water of He-Bo's body suddenly shot out random bursts of water--- this time without goal or aim. He destroyed the trees, the ground, and into the clouds, parting them with their fierce power. One even shot near Enishi and Zeo while he was in his pained state, ignorant to his Persona's rampage.

The inner turmoil did the unthinkable. He Bo was his persona, a representation of his own soul. When his own actions went against his own nature, his own self-govern rules.... the persona responded into self-destructive behavior. It had gone berserk, not caring if it even killed its own master. It was out of control, actualizing Zeo's own self-attacking state of guilt and regret.

He Bo then turned, looking towards Enishi and Zeo, showing the red glow in his eyes that Enishi would no doubt see that the Persona was indeed beyond his friend's immediate control. All the while, Zeo was in shock, unable to move and in pain from his head as he unconsciously spurred on his Persona's attack.

"What ... have I done?! I... I just can't... Why... Why does victory come at the cost of mercy? I don't wanna be a shinobi if I have t o discard myself! " Zachary murmured to himself, as if reality had blurred around him.

He Bo roared and started to fly towards them, using Zeo's own self-guilt to actually enact his will... potentially killing Zeo.

WC: 633
TWC: 2700

He Bo was on a rampage as it reached for Enishi with a watery assault with its fist-- until it met the flash of Enishi's eyes. When did Enishi get a doujutsu?! Or that would have been the thought Zeo would have had regarding the assault if he was of the right mind. He bo was suddenly pulled into the glow of the eye, and his chakra-- his make up began to unravel. In a rather odd burst of chakra-- Zeo's persona shattered into a burst of light, disconnected from it and Zeo's soul.

Zeo's Uchugan was instantly deactivated by the backlash of his Persona's dissolution in his out-of-control state and he was knocked back from the backlash, followed by a painful headache not unlike before. The remaining chakra turned into water vapor and the flood that was caused by Zeo and his persona began to finally subside.

Through Enishi's talk, his head rung as he struggled to sit up. This was the first time his eyes truly b ecame a double-edged sword for Zeo. He had struggled at first, interpreting the souls of others and often was scared of it all. He got used to that in time, but he never anticipated his own trauma-- his own issues to bite him in the ass. He never dreamed his own Persona would turn against him, if he was in his right mind. But the self-guilt and regret were still strong.

Zeo said nothing. He didn't know what to say. Enishi didn't know-- no he saw how he pitifully lost to Tsuna. It was humiliating, but Zeo got a full gauge of his opponent's strength and character. He didn't stand a chance. How was he to challenge that. And to make matters worse he suckerpunched him out. He humiliated Zeo infront of the entire village. That scarred him -- making him question his will to be a shinobi. Did he have to sacrifice his kind heart to become stronger? Something Zeo swore he would never do.

"You don't get it!" Zeo shouted. "I was utterly destroyed! Crushed. He crushed every will I had to fight, and like a coward i surrendered because I didn't want to die from his stupid assault. I was useless!!" Zachary shouted, slamming a fist into the ground, only hurting his own hand in the process. "I wanted to be a Nova Corp shinobi. I wanted to be a hero and stand to defend this village I love. And he just crushed me underfoot like an ant. "

Enishi tried to console him, to cheer him up, but no matter that Zeo couldn't shake the shakles that Tsuna's victory over him put on him. "YOU DON"T KNOW! YOU DIDN"T SEE HIS SOUL!!" Zeo shouted, his head held down but his voice high and angry-- a rare sight to see Zeo so torn up and upset. He glared up, with tear-filled eyes, showing how hurt he was. "I saw his soul. When I looked at Tsuna, despite the aura he gave to intimidate me, I saw his true measure of character. He's PERFECT! Get it? PERFECT! It was like looking at a god. There was not a flaw in his soul that showed evil, hesitation, doubt or hostility. And he crushed me with pure power. The gap between us was so strong, none of my strategies or plans would even spare me a chance to counterattack! To make matters worse, he sucker-punched me. I showed courtesy as a true one-on-one fight would-- and he struck fast with t he intent to kill me off. I should of never even entered the stupid exam! "

He huffed in frustration.

Little did either of them know, having come to investigate the violence occurring, Yasha, Zeo's sensei was spying on them listening in. He saw the berserk state of the Person and went to try and stop the situation. Luckily it seemed Enishi had intervened before he could. For now he watched in silence and undetected from a distance, but with sharp ears to listen in.

Zeo raised a sleeve to dry his eyes as he finally recovered enough, to stop shouting and get a hold of himself. He held in that guilt for a while. Now he had opened up and shared it. The damage would lessen then, and his Persona would probably not behave that way again, but Zeo was now in a mental block that prevented him from growing due to that trauma. His sense of reality and belief shattered that he could potentially do anything if he applied himself. But to be like HIM? To be that merciless?

"You want to know what is frustrating and ironic?" Zeo asked, almost laughting at Enishi. "I gained the power to see people's souls. I can see their true intent, their feelings, even glimpse their greatest secrets if I wanted. But no matter what I try, you know there is one soul I can't see. Mine." he said bluntly.

That would surprise some, unable to see their own soul if they had the power to perceive them. "I can't see my own souls. Clones can't carry them, and I can't just look in a mirror. My eyes don't work like that. So I never could see my own soul compared to others... and because of that, maybe I'm just fooling myself. Maybe I am not strong or capable as people believe in me. In the end, how can I compare to someone who is 'PERFECT'. Maybe it was a mistake to become a shinobi-- even for all the right reasons. " he said, kicking himself down.

It was still an ironic twist-- a power t hat allowed one to see souls, couldn't interpret their own soul. It was a contradiction that might in fact perplex many. But because of that contradiction, it held a clue as to why He Bo went self-destructive as it had.

WC: 989
TWC: 3689